Scientific Method

The scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge, as well as for correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on observable, empirical, measurable evidence, and subject to the rules of reasoning.

Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, there are features that distinguish scientific inquiry from other methods of developing knowledge. Scientific researchers propose specific hypotheses as explanations of natural phenomena, and design experimental studies that test these predictions for accuracy. Any hypothesis that cannot be subjected to a test is not considered to be scientific. These steps are repeated to refine hypotheses and allow for increasingly dependable predictions of future results. Theories that encompass whole domains of inquiry serve to bind more specific hypotheses together into logically coherent wholes. This in turn aids in the formation of new hypotheses, as well as in placing groups of specific hypotheses into a broader context of understanding.

Another facet shared by the various fields of scientific inquiry is that the process must be objective so that the scientist does not bias the interpretation of the results. There is also an expectation that scientists document all of their data and methodology for careful scrutiny by other scientists and researchers. Most scientific journals and grant agencies require a well documented set of data to be archived. This allows other researchers to conduct statistical measures of the reliability of the results and to verify results by attempting to replicate them.

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